A fire destroyed the historic hangar at the Tustin Air Base in Orange County, Calif., where films such as "Pearl Harbor," "Star Trek" and "Austin Powers" were filmed. Given the intensity of the fire, firefighters dispatched to the area were forced to allow the structure to collapse in order to extinguish the flames.
Due to the dynamic nature of the fire, and the imminent danger of collapse, we have determined the most operationally sound method is to allow the structure to collapse, at which point ground crews can move in closer, and aggressively work to extinguish the fire. pic.twitter.com/SmBl2UahMB
— OCFA PIO (@OCFireAuthority) November 7, 2023
Helicopter deployment
According to KTLA 5, firefighters were notified of a fire around 1 a.m. at the Marine Corps Air Station in Tustin. Despite the efforts of the firefighting teams, which included the use of helicopters, Captain Thanh Nguyen certified that the fire would eventually destroy the structure.
It’s definitely not a normal fire, but today because of the complex fire operation, our incident commanders decided that they are going to use helicopters along with the truck companies. ... The fire was advancing and starting to collapse parts of the structure … our firefighters are situated outside [the hangar] and they are placing their units in the most advantageous spots to get water into the structure. Then, should the building collapse, they are not in the line of fire.
At the moment it is unknown what caused the fire, although the authorities announced that an investigation will be opened to clarify the facts.
